1. Field of Invention
Aspects of the present invention relate to medical devices, and more particularly to apparatus and methods for conserving power in medical devices.
2. Discussion of Related Art
High performance portable medical devices typically require substantial computer processing power. One factor contributing to the demand for processing power is the large number of peripheral devices supported by many medical devices. These peripheral devices may include display devices such as LCD screens, memory devices such as synchronous dynamic random access memory, secure digital memory, universal sensor data memory and flash memory and interface devices such as universal serial bus, Bluetooth and Ethernet interfaces.
In addition, many portable medical devices perform sophisticated analysis of physiological data gathered from patients. In many instances, this analysis and any treatment initiated as a result of the analysis must be performed quickly, precisely and accurately as a patient's life may depend on it. The complexity and temporal requirements of these processing activities further contributes to the demand for processing power.
Portable medical devices also require that the components used to deliver functionality fit into a small footprint so that the medical device remains portable. In fact, many portable medical devices are required to be small and light enough to be worn by ambulatory patients. To meet these demands, portable medical devices conventionally conform to a design that includes only a single but powerful microprocessor.